


The Apples of My Eye

by BambiRex



Series: Garden Lodge Family Shenanigans [6]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Cats, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Genderbending, Pregnancy, fem!queen, garden lodge family shenanigans, in this house we love and respect every single one of the garden lodge cats, king!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26594101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BambiRex/pseuds/BambiRex
Summary: Feline and human babies galore.
Relationships: Jim Hutton/Freddie Mercury
Series: Garden Lodge Family Shenanigans [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767487
Comments: 10
Kudos: 10





	The Apples of My Eye

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a hot minute, I know! But I'm back with something extra fluffy, with cats and babies and soft flashbacks! Feedback is super appreciated :)

Apparently, cats were supposed to be dangerous during pregnancy- and they weren’t the best with babies either, according to a lot of people. When one of the first questions of the doctor was whether they owned any cats, followed by the subtle suggestion that they should cut back on the interaction with them, Freddie had to bite her lip not to scream.

Telling Freddie, one of the biggest cat-lovers in the universe, that she shouldn’t spend as much time around her beloved pets now that she was pregnant, was all but a hate-crime in her books. No matter the horror stories about toxoplasmosis and scratches gone fatal, worms and sudden allergies coming out of nowhere, nothing could have come between Freddie and her feline babies- not even a human one.

‘’Maybe we really should be careful.” Jane suggested gently on the way home from the doctor’s visit, rubbing Freddie’s barely visible bump. ‘’I don’t want anything bad happening to you.”

‘’Nothing bad will happen to me.” Freddie replied, rolling her eyes. She understood that Jane was worried- Freddie did have a hard time falling pregnant, after all, and she clearly wanted to make sure there efforts weren’t for nothing-, but at the same time, she simply couldn’t comprehend why anyone claimed that her cats were suddenly her mortal enemies, even Jane, who was more than fond of them herself.

‘’I just need to avoid the litterbox, and that’s it. If I don’t clean cat-shit, I will be just fine.”

Jane laughed, pressing a kiss onto her cheek. ‘’You already never clean the litterbox.”

‘’See?” Freddie grinned. ‘’I’m super careful.”

Jane just laughed, shaking her head at her wife fondly.

\--

There was nothing in the world that Freddie found more delicious, than being right.

She supposed it was her pheromones changing, but she noticed her cats being more protective of her than usual. She couldn’t take a few steps without one of the cats slithering around her ankles, refusing to leave her side.

It was quite hilarious- if a little morbid- to throw her guts up in the morning, hunched over the toilet with Lily sitting on her back, kneading her shirt with a distressed little meow.

‘’I think she’s looking out for me.” Freddie laughed tiredly when Jane returned with her glass of water. The cat was still clinging to her, to both their biggest amusement.

‘’She’s substituting for me when I’m not around.” Jane laughed, petting the kitten’s head who purred loudly, as if in agreement.

\--

Delilah became straight-up vicious, so much so, that she basically didn’t let anyone near Freddie.

Poor Jenny experienced her wrath first-hand, when she committed the atrocious crime of handing Freddie a blanket. Delilah hissed loudly as a warning- and when Jenny didn’t retreat right away, she pounced, sinking her claws into her calf.

‘’Shit!” Jenny yelped, tumbling back with Delilah angrily latching onto her leg. ‘’Ow!”

Freddie felt a little bad for laughing, but seeing her friend stumble around the room, trying to shake a feral cat off her leg was outright hilarious. She wiped at the tears that spilled out from laughing so hard.

‘’Delilah, darling, leave the poor thing be!” She called out, still laughing. Delilah finally released Jenny, jumping back onto the couch and Freddie’s lap. Her eyes were narrow slits, ears pressed flat against her skull as she stared at the offender.

‘’Okay, I thought only dogs went crazy around pregnant women.” Jenny huffed, rubbing her sore leg. ‘’Damn, you little asshole, this hurts!”

Freddie chuckled, scratching Delilah’s back. The cat immediately relaxed, stretching out on her lap and purring happily.

‘’She’s looking out for me.” Freddie smiled, smoothing her palm over her soft fur. 

‘’They all are.”

\--

Maybe it was a little silly, but despite being over thirty, Freddie was still afraid of the dark. She felt anxious whenever she had to go into an unlit room- which happened quite often nowadays, as her stupid cravings constantly woke her up around 3 AM.

At first, she always woke Jane, but after a while, she felt awful for doing so. Her poor wife deserved her rest, too. She didn’t feel like waking up Phoebe or Jenny, either, as they also overworked themselves to make sure Freddie was as comfortable as she could be. She had to try doing it alone.

Her heart was pounding in her throat as she tip-toed down the stairs, one hand on her ever-growing belly for support. She nearly screamed when something soft touched her leg, but let out a sigh of relief when she recognized Tiffany.

‘’You scared the shit out of me.” Freddie chuckled. She wanted to pick up her constantly grumpy girl, but bending down was becoming harder and harder, and so she resorted to playfully nudging at the cat with her socked feet.

Tiffany seemed to take up the role of the guardian, following Freddie into the kitchen obediently. Somehow, Freddie felt less nervous with her around. Tiffany waited patiently until Freddie raided the fridge, purring softly all the while as if to make sure Freddie could hear she was still around. Just when Freddie dug into her ice-cream, Layla gave a little kick, making Freddie smile.

‘’Good to know I’m not alone.” Freddie said softly, rubbing her stomach and smiling down at Tiffany, who gave a small meow.

She followed Freddie back to her room from a polite distance, and Freddie nearly tore up. She couldn’t believe there were people who claimed cats weren’t able to love- she was sure what she experienced that night, was the epitome of just that.

\--

Freddie never developed allergies, gotten worms or toxoplasmosis- she never even got scratched during her pregnancy. She got a lot of love, instead.

She was used to waking up to Jane kissing and talking to her bump, but on that morning, she woke up to little paws gently kneading her belly. She smiled, warmth filling her chest at the sight of her cats all over her, curiously sniffing at the round globe.

‘’They are fascinated.” Jane smiled. When Freddie looked over, she saw the camera in Jane’s hands, and she blushed.

‘’I must look a sight.” She said shyly. She was pushing her ninth month, ready to pop any day, and frankly, it was a little hard to feel fascinating- but Jane’s genuine smile, and the way the cats snuggled up against her belly, made her feel warm and loved.

‘’A beautiful sight.” Jane cooed, snapping another picture, just in time to catch Goliath placing his paw over Freddie’s belly button, as if greeting her baby.

\--

The pregnancy went smooth, when it came to the cats- and Freddie was relieved to find out they took to her babies immediately as well.

At first, they were a little wary of Layla, clearly not knowing what to make of the little human, but soon, they warmed up to her. More often than not, Freddie found them sitting by Layla’s crib, watching over her carefully.

‘’And to think once we were worried they would suffocate her in her sleep.” Jane laughed softly, wrapping her arm around Freddie’s shoulder. They watched the peaceful scene, smiling.

‘’They look out for her.” Freddie said, grinning. Layla stirred in her sleep, and Oscar, the least social out of all the cats, immediately leaned in to check on her. When he saw that everything was alright, he sat back, blinking calmly.

‘’I think we can leave Layla alone with them.” Jane joked. ‘’Even better nannies than Phoebe and Jenny.”

‘’We heard that!” Came the offended reply from the other room, making Jane and Freddie burst into laughter.

‘’Well, they are certainly good nannies, if not better.” Freddie smiled, and Delilah chirped happily.

\--

They never once scratched Layla.

Even when she was playing with them a little roughly, tugging on their ears or tails, they never lashed out. Maybe they whined a little, or ran away and hid, but never hurt the baby.

Oscar and Tiffany were never particularly cuddly, but they patiently let Layla treat them like plushies, snuggling up to them on her little playrug. Their expression was exasperated, but they stayed still- after all, they made a promise to Freddie that they would keep her child safe.

And if it meant a little discomfort, then they could handle that, too.

\--  
The cats took to Gabriel just as quickly, though they were all a little worried about that. In Layla’s case, they watched the pregnancy progress from the beginning, were around the baby from the second she was brought home. Gabriel was a complete stranger to them.

But Freddie didn’t have to worry this time, either.

‘’Look at him, darlings.” Freddie said softly, cradling the baby in her arms. ‘’Isn’t he beautiful?”

‘’He’s my little brother!” Layla announced, lifting Romeo so he could take a peek at the small boy. ‘’You need to love him!”

Well, they didn’t need to be told twice. They took a few sniffs, and immediately decided that Gabriel was family, too.

\--

Gabriel was a very shy little boy, which was understandable, considering where he came from- but he relaxed in the presence of the cats right away.

He was insanely fussy when they tried to change his diaper: for some reason, he really hated that, kicking and screaming whenever someone just touched his nappy. But if the cats were in the room, he was perfectly calm.

‘’Much better with Delilah around, huh?” Jane grinned, blowing a raspberry onto Gabriel’s stomach playfully. The little boy giggled, kicking his feet excitedly.

Delilah watched them from the corner of the room, curled up comfortably. Jane was sure that if she was a human, she would have been smiling.

\--

Though both Layla and Gabriel had plenty of toys to choose from, they preferred playing with the cats. Waking up to them shrieking and chasing the cats around Garden Lodge at 6 in the morning on a Sunday wasn’t particularly fun for their parents, but at least they were sure everyone was okay.

‘’Little troublemakers, all of them.” Jane chuckled, pulling Freddie closer. Freddie smiled, burrowing into her wife’s warmth.

‘’They are all siblings, they are supposed to make trouble together.” She said sleepily, making Jane grin.

It was entirely chaotic, as Lily ended up with Phoebe’s bra on her head for some reason- which the children found utterly hilarious, Phoebe not so much-, and Gabriel tried to use the litterbox, but Freddie wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

She had many children, feline, biological and adopted alike, and she loved every single one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a certain scenario that you would like me to turn into a fic for the series, you can suggest it here in the comments or on my tumblr, bambirexwrites, and I'll add it to the list! :))


End file.
